New social media scams: Can you tell friend from foe?

Most security organizations have long since lost the fight to keep employees from using social media on work computers; indeed, many people now have to be on Facebook or Twitter as part of their professional duties. The goal now is to help contain any damage from social media attacks—keeping in mind that even an attack via someone’s personal account can affect their work lives.

To that end, we spoke to some security pros about scams and attack vectors that are springing up on social medial. Here are their tips for avoiding social media scams.

Social media accounts aren’t a shortcut to riches. The world of con artistry has seen endless variations of the get rich quick scheme. SEO expert Bradley Shaw points to one current example on Twitter, the “Twitter cash starter kit,” which promises users that they can hit it rich on the platform in unspecified ways. The key to the scam? “Victims will pay an initial fee for the kit itself by entering their debit or credit card information,” says Shaw. Once the scammer has access to that information, charges quickly mount: “Their cards are charged a hidden ‘membership’ fee of $50 each month after initial signup. They can also make further fraudulent charges.”